The Board (old)
The Board is the world in which Pawn takes place, which quite literally manifests itself as a game board, neatly divided into several spaces, or Zones. The Board is constantly changing, and is rarely ever the same between rounds. Zones Each Zone on The Board has a name, number, and color. The name and number are for flavor and reference respectively, while the color often corresponds with an Element from the Nine Primal Elements. In addition to being represented by a space on the map, each zone has its own post containing its relevant information. Zones are frequently wild and untamed, and almost always have a resource that can be gathered. They also frequently contain one or more monster encounters, triggered by a certain roll on the search table. Zones themselves have health of a sort, though it is not explicitly viewable by the players. A zone's health determines its stability and existance. A zone that is in poor health for a sustained amount of time is likely to flip. In extreme cases, zone health can deplete and destroy the zone from The Board. In general, flips and cascades simply displace a zone, not wipe it from existance. 'Flip' The Board is always changing, and the primary means of that change is for a zone to flip. After a flip, a new zone replaces whatever zone previously occupied that space. This can be devestating; it effectively kills all living creatures within the zone at the time of the flip. A flip that is particularly strong may trigger a cascade. 'Cascade' These occur when a zone flip induces nearby zones to follow suit. Cascades radiate from the trigger zone, and can be as small as to effect only adjacent zones, or large enough to encompass the entire board. A full-board cascade in some form or another are common when ending a game session. 'Detach' A rare occurance triggered by a large cascade. Zones can sometimes detach from the board and become isolated, to later land on a new, stabilized board. Nothing within suffers the devestating effects of a flip, which makes this phenomenon particularly beneficial to pawns. On the seeding of the world Full title: "On the seeding of the world - the day that the board once more was inhabited, and began to recover from the great crash." This bit of lore began as a Chronicle written by the player Nespin Fernagon. In one test, well-written Chronicles encompassing an important piece of player history offered persistant stat benefits to all players. This particular chronicle encompassed elements of the game's introductory prose as well as a particularly eventful, very player-driven round of the game. Chronicles have not been confirmed for Pawn's latest iteration, but the story remains on the front page as the new introductory prose. Here it is, in its entirety: : At first - there was nothing. A void in which potential rested, a place where the world might be. Then - there was something. What has since been lost to time and trial, but eventually there came to power nine spirits. Their names are now...unimportant, but the knowledge that they were power must be understood. Through their power were the nine elements balanced - Fire, Water, Earth. Heaven, Hell, Nature. Body, Spirit, and Mind. And through the balancing of their powers did the board come to be, and through it's existence came all the faces of the units. Pawn and King, Queen and Rook, Knight and Bishop - all came to rest upon the chaotic, ever changing board and it was good. : Then came three - outsiders from this world, yet integral to it as well. Names they had, but the names matter not. What they represented is important here, for they were: Chaos, Neutrality, and Order. The nine were swept aside by the three, and for a time once more did the board live on a balance - this time of different forces, but a balance none the less. : In the end a great and fierce battle was fought - the three all fell to one another's hands, and the nine did not return. Bereft of balance, lacking control of the powers at work within it, the great board was torn apart and all fell to nothingness and ruin. Oh - for a brief time some form of world remained, a place that was but briefly explored...yet it did not last long, with no-one to control the powers at play. : All this was before the seeding of the world - for within this nothingness there came to be a person. A single girl, a small force in and of herself but representing a great possibility. At first she was alone within the great nothingness that was our world - but then a small change happened. It was but a stone, and a small tree - two features in the vast waste of the world yet they were solid things, consistent, fixed points in the white plain. : Thus was the world seeded from the ruins of the past - even now it continues to grow, as more power is acquired and fed into the featureless plain. The board is reborn, thanks to the existence of the seed - and it was remembered for some time. : But old powers grew thin and battles faded to memories and legends. The nine began to war anew with one another, and their wars silently tore asunder the old worlds. :Nothing remains now but a tiny fragment of the Board. Scholars speculate the universe has lost none of its energy, but...